Technical detail
Healthy Aquilaria trees produce no aromatic resin; infection by the mold Phialophora parasitica (or related fungi) triggers a defense response that creates the dark, resin-impregnated heartwood called agarwood. Only a fraction of wild trees are infected, making natural agarwood extremely scarce. The olfactive complexity of agarwood varies significantly by species, geographic origin, age of infection, and extraction method (Société Française des Parfumeurs EN, accessed 2026-05-27).
Commercial production now relies almost entirely on plantation-grown Aquilaria with artificially induced infection, primarily in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The resulting oud oil, while less complex than wild-harvested material, provides a consistent, legally sourced supply. All Aquilaria species are listed on CITES Appendix II, requiring export permits (CITES, accessed 2026-05-27).
In perfumery, oud oil from hydro-distillation ranges from woody-smoky (Vietnamese), to animalic-barnyard (Indian), to fruity-leather (Cambodian). In niche perfumery, oud has become a defining material of the 2010s expansion of Arabic-inspired Western fragrance.
Examples
- Oud Wood (Tom Ford Private Blend, 2007): the fragrance widely credited with mainstreaming oud in Western niche perfumery.
- Black Aoud (Montale, 2006, Pierre Montale): a raw, animalic oud composition central to Montale's identity.
- Ensar Oud: a specialist niche house focused exclusively on natural oud materials from multiple geographic origins.
Sources
- Société Française des Parfumeurs EN, entry on agarwood/oud (accessed 27 May 2026)
- CITES Appendix II: Aquilaria species (accessed 27 May 2026)
- Fragrantica: oud guide (accessed 27 May 2026)